ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - C.J. Wilson knows there’s no sense in panicking two games into the Los Angeles Angels’ season.
Even if those two games were disastrous for a team that desperately needs a good start.
Brad Miller hit two homers, Erasmo Ramirez pitched seven innings of six-hit ball, and the Seattle Mariners beat Los Angeles 8-3 Tuesday night, saddling the Angels with their second blowout loss of the season.
Wilson (0-1) labored into the sixth inning for the Angels, who are 0-2 for the first time since 2001.
Raul Ibanez hit a two-run homer and Josh Hamilton had two hits for the Angels, who spent the entire spring determined to avoid yet another slow start, a prime reason for Los Angeles’ four-year postseason absence.
“There’s a lot of things we need to do better,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “We’re a better team than showed up the last couple of games. We’re getting some guys on base, and our situational hitting was great all spring. We just have to do a little bit better job of it.”
Los Angeles went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, dropping to 1 for 13 in the young season. But their pitching hasn’t been great, either: Wilson, who won a career-best 17 games last season, needed 95 pitches to get through the first five innings, yielding eight hits, six runs and two walks.
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in our offense,” Wilson said. “That’s the mentality you have to have with the guys we have. If you don’t score and you give up a run early, everybody seems to press a little bit. If you’re not winning, you’re not having a good time.”
The left-hander also didn’t appear to agree with the Angels’ decision to walk Robinson Cano intentionally in the third inning, loading the bases. Smoak cleared them with a double.
“Yes,” Wilson said when asked if it was strange to walk the left-handed Cano to pitch to the right-handed Smoak. “No more questions on that one.”
Abraham Almonte and Dustin Ackley also had RBI doubles as the Mariners followed up their 10-3 win on opening day with another surprising offensive barrage against the Angels. Seattle beat Wilson with only a supporting role from Cano, who went 1 for 3 with two walks.
“No doubt. Why wouldn’t you?” Smoak said of the Angels’ strategy in pitching around Cano. “There’s a reason why you do it, but we’re all going to have to get big hits with guys on base this season.”
So far, it’s happening all the time: The Mariners scored 16 runs in their first 15 innings of the year while beating Jered Weaver and Wilson, their AL West rivals’ two best starters.
“We just wanted to show them we’ve got some hitters,” Miller said. “We’ve got some depth. Starting on the road against two pretty good pitchers and a good lineup, getting two wins like that is a pretty great way to start a season.”
Ramirez (1-0) backed up his solid spring training with impressive work against the Angels’ star-studded lineup, striking out six without walking a batter. He retired 11 straight after squelching the Angels’ rally in the fourth inning.
Ibanez has struck out five times already this season, but he trimmed his former team’s lead with his first homer for the Angels in the fourth.
Albert Pujols doubled in the eighth and scored on Cano’s two-out throwing error, but Joe Beimel relieved Tom Wilhelmsen and picked David Freese off first base, ending the inning before throwing a pitch.
Freese got his first hit for the Angels in the second inning, but is off to a 1-for-8 start.
Mike Trout went 0 for 3 and was hit by a pitch on his bobblehead night.
NOTES: Angels relievers Dane De La Rosa and Sean Burnett will throw a simulated game in Anaheim on Wednesday before deciding the next step in their recovery from injuries. … In just his fifth season as a starting pitcher, Wilson fanned Kyle Seager for his 1,000th career strikeout. The former Texas reliever is the 41st active player to reach the milestone.
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